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Time in a Bottle

There never seems to be enough timeTo do the things you want to doOnce you find them

(Jim Croce, Time in a Bottle)

I’ve had the words to this great old Jim Croce song rattling around in my head since somewhere around Red Deer, on the highway back from our first Edmonton concert. I knew there was a blog connected to them, I just needed the time to think through what and how and having recovered from the utter exhaustion and bout with a flu bug that greeted me coming home, it’s time to get back to some writing.

The weeklong Goo Goo Dolls extravaganza was the fourth road trip the wingchick and I have embarked on, enough now that I am starting to have some perspective on what makes them so . . .addictive. I realize now that these roadtrips, like many of my adventures in the last couple of years, are not only about what I’m actually doing at the time, but also about creating memories. The sort of memories that when I’m old and grey, and sitting on the porch in my rocker (chair, I mean, not some long-haired guy) I can look back on and say, wow, that was a life well lived. The very first post I put up on my blog talked a lot about regret and how I don’t very often regret the things I have done, but that it was regret for the chances we pass up in life that would be the worst. So in a way all these crazy adventures have been about saving up time and memories in the own personal memory bottle.

So how has that played out in real life in the past six months? Well, I’ve sure done a lot. I’ve said yes to a lot of things and really pushed the envelope of my personal experiences. I ditched a job I had grown to hate and took a huge chance on a new one. That has worked out so beautifully, I still wake up every day and thank my lucky stars. It really is my dream job, and I couldn’t be happier. I’m working harder and taking on challenges I never expected, but it’s so mentally stimulating and emotionally rewarding, I wouldn’t care if I was working all day and all night too. Like many other things, once I committed to and made the change, all I wonder now is what held me, trapped, in bad circumstances for so long.

I’ve also been pushing the envelope in my personal life, but the results there have been . . well . . pretty mixed. I went on a few dates, something I hadn’t done for a long time. I hadn’t dated at all since I found myself single again a few years ago, but I figured it was about time I tried that again as well. I met some nice people and some not so nice ones. I tested some theories I had about myself and discovered that, at least in certain areas, I’m less . . .shall we say experimental than I might have liked to think. And also that saying yes is not always the best answer . . .definitely saying no is sometimes just fine thanks!!

But there is always the possibility I might have gone about this dating thing in all the wrong way; that my usual, impatient, “I can make anything I want happen”, bull in a china shop way is completely the wrong approach to the dating game. And a couple of really great things have also happened because I took some chances, so for those I’m very thankful. It has been quite a revelatory experience and the jury is still out on whether it’s been positive or not.

And memories: well this little Goo Goo Dolls roadtrip added enough to ensure that I’ve got enough absolutely amazing ones to get me through a lot of afternoons in the rocker. Good or bad, there are some incredible stories. Driving from Calgary to Edmonton and back in a blizzard, meeting Donna, Bob, Damage and Andy in Edmonton and the funny moments that brought about for the rest of the roadtrip. Being front row at the Commodore in Vancouver for the show there – that was AMAZING. The 9 hour+ drive to Grand Ronde in the Willamette Valley, arriving at 7:40pm for an 8pm show only to find out there was no opening band. The hilarious suitcase/makeup dump in the room and still making it to the show, dressed in full rock goddess attire, hair and make up done, by 8pm. Now that was pro. Meeting not one but two sets of brothers at the after party . . .did that guy really look like Axl Rose . . YES! Were we really booting droppin’ all over the dance floor . . hell yeah. Funniest night of the trip, hands down. The fluke find of our favourite Oregon winery, Erath, on the trip back to Tacoma. And being at the best show of the whole roadtrip in Tacoma. John R was in a crazy mood, he was hilarious, sexy, bad, gorgeous – all the things you want in your favourite rock star. It was an awesome show and my favourite of the tour.

So in contemplating time saved, time wasted, time passing and time on hold; all the multitudinous ways we measure time in our lives, the one thing I know with certainty is that anything I do that creates such wonderful memories, stories that I will enjoy time and time again, is not wasted time.

I wanted a video of “Wasted Time” by the Eagles for this post, but could not find a decent one. Just crap covers. But I did come across this gem – an original concert recording of Hotel California. I saw these guys in California way back when they were originally touring (not the reunion tour that happened when hell froze over!) . . now there is a memory. Actually that whole trip is another amazing memory safely tucked away. Enjoy, great music never gets old.